Trace metals precipitation

Other resolubilized trace metals precipitate as replacement ions in existing solids such as fecal pellets and bone. Examples of these fiassilized materials include barite, phosphorite, and glauconite. These precipitates contain small amounts of a variety of trace metals as well as other elements. As a result, their chemical composition is variable and their structure is usually amorphous, making it difficult to assign them an empirical formifia. 

August Bermuda Ground (G, A, P) Aerosol NO3, S04, trace metals Precipitation Major ions, trace metals, organic acids, trace organics... 

Trace metals in sea water are preconcentrated either by coprecipitating with Ee(OH)3 and recovering by dissolving the precipitate or by ion exchange. The concentrations of several trace metals are determined by standard additions using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. 

As opposed to gaseous, pure formaldehyde, solutions of formaldehyde are unstable. Both formic acid (acidity) and paraformaldehyde (soHds) concentrations increase with time and depend on temperature. Formic acid concentration builds at a rate of 1.5—3 ppm/d at 35°C and 10—20 ppm/d at 65°C (17,18). Trace metallic impurities such as iron can boost the rate of formation of formic acid (121). Although low storage temperature minimizes acidity, it also increases the tendency to precipitate paraformaldehyde. 

Zinc smelters use x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to analyze for zinc and many other metals in concentrates, calcines, residues, and trace elements precipitated from solution, such as arsenic, antimony, selenium, tellurium, and tin. X-ray analysis is also used for quaUtative and semiquantitative analysis. Electrolytic smelters rely heavily on AAS and polarography for solutions, residues, and environmental samples. 

Nickel plating solutions may contain excess iron and unknown organic contaminants. Iron is removed by peroxide oxidation, precipitation at a pH of about 5, then filtered out. The more complex, less water-soluble organic contaminants along with some trace metals are removed with activated carbon treatments in separate treatment tanks. About 5 g/L of plating-grade activated carbon is mixed in the plating solution for at least 1—2 hours, usually at warmer temperatures. 

While Fe- and Mn-oxides certainly are important in the binding and transport of the trace metals in the estuarine system, organic matter appears to play a dominant role in the coagulation step. For instance, adjustment of the solution pH to values where humics normally precipitate (pH = l to 3) causes all the components (Fe and Mn, organics, and trace metals) to coagulate into filterable particles. By contrast, adjustment of the pH upward, which would normally favor precipitation of Fe- and Mn-oxides, has no effect. In view of this it is not... 

Coprecipitation is a partitioning process whereby toxic heavy metals precipitate from the aqueous phase even if the equilibrium solubility has not been exceeded. This process occurs when heavy metals are incorporated into the structure of silicon, aluminum, and iron oxides when these latter compounds precipitate out of solution. Iron hydroxide collects more toxic heavy metals (chromium, nickel, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, and thorium) during precipitation than aluminum hydroxide.38 Coprecipitation is considered to effectively remove trace amounts of lead and chromium from solution in injected wastes at New Johnsonville, Tennessee.39 Coprecipitation with carbonate minerals may be an important mechanism for dealing with cobalt, lead, zinc, and cadmium. 

Greater adsorption of trace metals is found at higher pH and C02(g) concentrations. Sites available for Zn2+ sorption are less than 10% of the Ca2+ sites on the calcite surface, and Zn adsorption is independent of surface charge. This indicates a surface complex with a covalent character (Zachara et al., 1991). Furthermore, the surface complex remains hydrated and labile because Zn2+ is rapidly exchangeable with Ca2+, Zn2+ and ZnOH. At the dolomite-solution interface, the carbonate(C03)-metal (Ca/Mg) complex dominates surface speciation at pH > 8, but at pH 4-8, hydroxide (OH) -metal (Ca/Mg) dominates surface speciation (Pokrovsky et al., 1999). Calcite has an observed selectivity sequence Cd > Zn > Mn > Co > Ni > Ba = Sr, but their sorption reversibility is correlated with the hydration energies of the metal sorbates. Cadmium and Mn dehydrate soon after adsorption to calcite and form a precipitate, while Zn, Co and Ni form surface complexes, remaining hydrated until the ions are incorporated into the structure by recystallization (Zachara et al., 1991). 

Most trace metals may be precipitated with phosphate into insoluble metal phosphates (Table 7.5). Most metal phosphates have low solubility. High localization of phosphates reduces the bioavailability of Zn in arid soils. The banded application of P near the seeds depresses Zn uptake by com (Adriano and Murphy, 1970 Grant and Bailey, 1993), causing Zn deficiency. However, both N and P fertilizers increase Cd concentration in plants. Cadmium and Zn are antagonistic in root uptake and distribution within plants. 

Holzbecker and Ryan [825] determined these elements in seawater by neutron activation analysis after coprecipitation with lead phosphate. Lead phosphate gives no intense activities on irradiation, so it is a suitable matrix for trace metal determinations by neutron activation analysis. Precipitation of lead phosphate also brings down quantitatively the insoluble phosphates of silver (I), cadmium (II), chromium (III), copper (II), manganese (II), thorium (IV), uranium (VI), and zirconium (IV). Detection limits for each of these are given, and thorium and uranium determinations are described in detail. Gamma activity from 204Pb makes a useful internal standard to correct for geometry differences between samples, which for the lowest detection limits are counted close to the detector. 

Three methods for trace metal preconcentration were examined liquid-liquid extraction aided by a chelating agent, concentration on a synthetic chelating resin and reductive precipitation with NaBTLt. The latter method gave 1000-fold preconcentration factors with total recovery of Pb and other elements17. Preconcentration of nanogram amounts of lead can be carried out with a resin incorporating quinolin-8-ol (3)18. Enhancement factors of 50-100 can be achieved by such preconcentration procedures followed by determination in a FLA (flow injection analysis) system limits of detection are a few pg Pb/L19. 

Munk, L. Faure, G. Pride, D., Bigham, J. 2002. Sorption of trace metals to an aluminum precipitate in a stream receiving acid rock-drainage Snake River, Summit County, Colorado. Applied Geochemistry, 17, 421-430. 

The supply of sea salts and trace metals via precipitation appears to contribute to the elevated content of water-soluble forms of alkaline and earth-alkaline elements and trace metals in the uppermost soil layer. 

Table 4. Airborne input of various trace metals in the Spitzbergen island ecosystems, mg/yr per 100 mm of precipitation (after Dobrovolsky, 1994).

The airborne input was calculated per 300 and 400 mm per year in accordance with annual precipitation rates in the western Spitzbergen coast and trace metal rates shown in Table 4. 

The processes described and their kinetics is of importance in the accumulation of trace metals by calcite in sediments and lakes (Delaney and Boyle, 1987) but also of relevance in the transport and retention of trace metals in calcareous aquifers. Fuller and Davis (1987) investigated the sorption by calcareous aquifer sand they found that after 24 hours the rate of Cd2+ sorption was constant and controlled by the rate of surface precipitation. Clean grains of primary minerals, e.g., quartz and alumino silicates, sorbed less Cd2+ than grains which had surface patches of secondary minerals, e.g., carbonates, iron and manganese oxides. Fig. 6.11 gives data (time sequence) on electron spin resonance spectra of Mn2+ on FeC03(s). 

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